Target: Shubhranjan Sen, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Madhya Pradesh, India
Goal: Demand an immediate investigation into the Forest Department’s alleged two-hour delay in responding to a deer attack and its reported pattern of inaction, cover-ups, and failure to protect shrinking wildlife habitats.
A terrified deer, driven out of its shrinking forest habitat, ran into a village settlement only to be immediately surrounded, bitten, and dragged by a pack of stray dogs — while the Forest Department reportedly took nearly two hours to respond after being alerted. It was not trained officials but village children who first rushed forward, shouting and throwing stones to drive the dogs away, followed by other villagers armed with sticks. The injured deer was ultimately rescued and guided back to the forest entirely through the efforts of ordinary citizens, with authorities reportedly arriving only after the crisis had already been resolved.
This reported pattern of delayed and inadequate response from the Forest Department is not new. Villagers allege that such failures have become routine, with officials reportedly absent when wild animals enter human settlements in distress. More alarmingly, locals have pointed to alleged incidents of deer poaching two years ago in the same forest range, during which serious allegations were made against forest officials for inaction and alleged attempted cover-ups. Residents also allege that increasing encroachment and illegal logging are steadily eating into forest land, forcing wild animals out of their habitats and into villages — allegedly with the knowledge and tolerance of the very department tasked with preventing it.
The allegedly systemic failure of the Forest Department — from reportedly delayed emergency responses to alleged complicity in poaching cover-ups and inaction on encroachment — represents a profound betrayal of both wildlife and the communities that live alongside it. When forest land is allowed to shrink through illegal logging and encroachment, it is animals like this deer that pay the price with their lives. Sign below to demand the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests immediately investigate the department’s alleged two-hour response failure, probe the reported allegations of past poaching cover-ups, and take urgent action to address the encroachment and illegal logging destroying the Bajna Forest Range.
PETITION LETTER:
Conservator Shubhranjan Sen,
We are writing in urgent response to a deeply troubling incident in which a deer was attacked and mauled by stray dogs after fleeing into a village, reportedly because its forest habitat has been reduced by encroachment and illegal logging. Despite being alerted, Forest Department officials reportedly arrived nearly two hours after the attack — by which time village children and residents had already driven off the dogs and rescued the animal themselves. That ordinary citizens did what the Forest Department allegedly failed to do is not a testament to community spirit alone — it is an indictment of institutional failure.
We are gravely concerned that this incident is not isolated. Local residents say that delayed responses have become routine, and that forest officials have previously been implicated in inaction and attempted cover-ups in connection with deer poaching in the same forest range. Simultaneously, encroachment and illegal logging are shrinking the very habitat that keeps wildlife out of human settlements — and the Forest Department has allegedly done little to stop it. This combination of alleged negligence, complicity, and inaction is creating a dangerous and escalating human-wildlife conflict.
We respectfully demand that your office immediately launch a formal investigation into the Forest Department’s alleged two-hour response failure, probe the reported allegations of past poaching cover-ups in the Bajna Forest Range, and take urgent and enforceable action against the encroachment and illegal logging destroying critical wildlife habitat. The deer in this incident survived because villagers intervened — the next animal may not be so fortunate. We ask that you act before that happens.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Mayurisamudre
